Spring-wheel.



J. A. HAGBRSTROM. SPRING WHEEL.

APPLICATION TILED JULY 25. 1911.

1, 1 20, 1 42. Patented Dec. 8. 1914.

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3% @lHozuct HIE NORRIS PETERS 1:0 PHOIU Lrrllo, WAs l/NGKW. n C

J. A. HAGERSTROM.

SPRING WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED JULY 25,1911.

5 SHEETS-SHBBT Z.

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Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

J. A. HAGERSTROM.

SPRING WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25 1911.

1,120,142, Patented Dec. 8. 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WWI Lease J r awucui'o'c z I W wmuy wx g J. A. HAGBRSTROM. SPRING WHEEL.APPLIOATION FILED JULY 25, 1911.

1,1 20, 142. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

J. A. HAGERSTROM.

SPRING WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25. 1911.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

IHL" NORRIS PETLRS 1:0 PMUIO LITHO v WASNINGTUN, D c.

JOHN A. HAGERSTROM, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SPRING-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 191 1.

Application filed July 25, 1911. Serial No. 640,390.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OIIN A. Hmnns'rnoit, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn,county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Spring-\Vheels, of which the following is a fulland clear specification, illus trated in the accompanying drawings, theparticular novel features being more particularly pointed out in theannexed claims.

My invention relates in general to so called spring wheels for vehicles,in particular, for power driven vehicles, in which yielding members aidin supporting the hub within the folly in order to absorb or lessen theshocks caused by the unevenness of the road before they reach the hub,and in particular permit doing away with pneumatic tires.

Another feature of my novel wheel is that by its construction the torquebeing transmitted. from the axle to the folly through the yieldingmember, the sudden strain put onto the driving mechanism of the vehicle,in particular on the starting is considerably lessened.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wheel, Fig. 2 is afront elevation thereof, Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the hub end,facing the vehicle, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the hub onthe line m-w in F Fig. 5 is a view of the same hub end shown in Fig. 3,the covering plate being removed and seen on the section line lV-lV inFig. 6. Fig. (3 is a longitudinal section through the hub on the line yy in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a side view of the outside hub end. Fig. 8 is abroad side view of one of the spokes. Fig. 9 is a side view of the spokeshown in Fig. 8 as it appears in the side view of the wheel in Fig. 1.Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the spoke on the line in Fig. 8.Fig. 11 is a moditied form of the spring members holding the spokes inplace relatively to the felly, Fig. 12 is an inside view of a follyportion containing the expansion device. Fig. 13 is an outside viewthereof. Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the expansion device shown inFig. 12 taken on the line 0-'v in that figure, and Figs. 15, .16 and 17are cross sections of the telly and tire attached to it, showing variouskinds of tires and their manner 0t attachment.

Referring to Fig. 1, the hub 1s designated at 1. is the folly and 5 arethe spokes pivotally attached at (3 to the hub and connected to thetelly in the manner which will be described hereinafter. -1- are therims which are intended to hold the tire (not shown and which may be ofsolid rubber or any other suitable material) on the wheel. The rims areattached by bolts 7, 7 to the fell y as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As shownfor instance in Fig. (3, the spokes 5 are pivotally attached to the hubin the following manner: The main body of the hub is provided with twodisks or flanges 8, 8, one at each end, in which are disposed bolts 6serving as pivots for the spokes 5 as shown. The outer ends of spokes 5are pivotally attached to double-armed rockers 9 which in turn arepivotally disposed in the felly 2 between ears 3 as shown in Figs. 1 and2. The pivot pins for these rockers are indicated at 10 in thesefigures, and the rocker is shown in larger scale and pivotally attachedto :1. spoke 5 in Figs. 8 and 9. The relative positions of all therockers 9 and spokes in the wheel are normally such that the rockersextend substantially concentrically with the folly while the arms extendsubstantially tangentially to the hub 1. The pivotal joints between thespokes and the rockers are indicated at 11 inFi 1,8 and 9.

The free end 12 of each rocker is connected by two springs 13 with thepivotal joint 11 of the adjacent spoke and rocker toward which itpoints, which clearly appears from Fig. 1, so that by these springs allrockers are held yieldingly in position and form with their connectingsprings a circle concentrical with the folly 2, whereby the spokes 5 arepivotally attached at equidistant points 11 to the periphery of thiscircle. By this arrangement the effect is obtained that if for instancethe wheel is driven from the hub in the direction indicated by the arrowin Fig. 1, the tension springs 13 yieldingly resist the tendency ofspokes 5 to rock the rockers 9 and thus they cushion the torquetransmitted from the hub by the spokes and rockers to the folly.Moreover by this arrangement any shock which in turn the folly receivesfrom the road is cushioned in similar manner and either entirelyabsorbed by the springs or lessened to such extent before it reaches thehub that its detrimental effect to the axle is entirely or substantiallyannihilated, and

thus permits the use of solid rubber tires or even iron tires instead ofthe unreliable pneumatic tires.

Instead of using tension springs 13, I may also use compression springswith the same effect. Such compression springs 18 may be used forinstance in the manner shown in Fig. 11. in this figure 11 and 12represent the pivot pins to which in Fig. 1 springs 13 are attached, andin Fig. 11 to these pins are attached the eyes 1-1 and 15 respectively.Eye 1-l forms the outer end of a rod 17, the inner end of which carriesa disk 19 disposed in a cylinder 16 with which eye 15 is integral. Theouter end of this cylinder is closed by a disk 20 which guides rod 17 inits central boring. compression spring 13 is disposed which thus tendsto hold pins 11 and 12 at their normal distance and to prevent theirmoving apart similarly to the action of tension springs 13 in Fig. 1.

The numerous pivotal oints of the spokes and rockers should be of coursealways kept lubricated to prevent wear under the constant strain towhich they are subject. I obtain the lubrication of all these joints bythe automatic oiling device which is set into operation as soon as thewheel commences to revolve and which I will now describe.

In Fig. fl: which illustrates the hub 1 in longitudinal section, oilwells will be noted, which are formed by a number of borings extendingsubstantially longitudinally of the hub body and are arranged insuitable number in a circle as may be seen from Fig. I have shown thesewells in Fig. 1' inclined toward the central hub axis which form Iprefer. These wells terminate at both faces of the hub and communicateat such faces with each other by means of circular grooves 26, each ofwhich is covered by an end plate or disk 27 provided at either end andcovering the entire face of the hub. The pivotal bolts 6 carrying spokes5 previously described extend through these end disks 27 and hold themtightly to the hub faces by means of their respective heads and nuts aswill be clearly seen from Fig. 6. From one of the oil wells 25 as shownin Fig. 5 a channel 28 provided in the hub face, extends outwardlysubstantially tangentially and leads to the intermittently operatedcontroller 29 which I shall describe presently. Previously it may bestated that from controller 29 a channel 30 extends spirally outwardlyin one turn and terminates at one of the pivotal bolts 6 as shown inFig. 5. Moreover a branch channel 31 extends from spiral channel 30 toeach of the remaining bolts 5 as also appears from Fig. 5 and by thischannel system oil may be conducted to these pivotal bolts in the mannerto be described later on. The zone on the hub faces within which thesechannels are located 1s surrounded outside and inside Between disks 19and 20- by packing rings 27 and 27 respectively which are tightened bydisk 27. These packings may be seen in Figs. a and 5 and 6.

The oil controller is constructed and operated as follows: A small shaft32 extends between hub disks 8, 8 as will be noted from Figs. 3 and dand this shaft has splined to it at the portion where it passes througheach disk a cone 33 between which a compression spring 3% is arranged sothat these cones are pressed outwardly into their seats 35 which arethreaded into disks 8. Each of these cones is flattened at the pointwhere its surface intersects with channels 28 and 30 as shown at 36 inFigs. a and 5, this flattened portion being of such size that it extendsfrom channel 28 to channel 30 and thus establishes a communicationtherebetween when the shaft and its cones are rocked into the properposition. This is accomplished as follows: The end of rocking shaft 32protruding through the hub disk 8 on the inner end of the hub (left handend in Fig. l) carries fixed to it a double faced latch 38 of the formshown in Figs. 3 and 4, which latch is held in the position shown inFig. 3 by means of a spring 39 fastened at one end to a suitable detentof the latch and at the other end to a pin atO fixed on disk 8. When thelatch is in this position, the flattened portion 36 of each cone 35faces channel 28 as shown in Fig. 5 so that communication between thischannel and channel 30 is interrupted. Now adjacent to the inner end ofthe hub is fastened to the vehicle axle (not shown) and above it a pinll which when the hub revolves with the wheel lifts latch 38 once eachrevolution and thereby rocks shaft 32 and its cones 33 whereby theirliattened portions 36 are turned so that they establish temporarilycommunication be tween channels 28 and30, spring 39 returning themthereafter into their normal position shown in Fig. 5. When the hubrevolves the centrifugal force tends to throw the oil contained in wells25 into circular groove 26 and eventually into channel 28, a smallportion of the oil squirting from this channel into channel 30 when thecontroller 29 establishes temporary communication between these channelsin the man her just described. Oil may be supplied. into the wells 25through ball valves 42 shown in Fig. 6. Thus the oil gradually works itsway through spiral groove 30 and into its side channels 31 where itreaches pivot pins 6 which are thoroughly lubricated thereby with theaid of longitudinal channels 13' provided on the surface of these pinsas shown in Fig. 6. These pins are also provided midway between theirends with an annular groove 4A which registers with a radial boring 45provided in the sleeve 46 of each spoke 5 so that the superfiuous oilflows through this boring into a 1 tube 47 threaded into this boring 45shown in Fig. 8. This tube liads the oil with the aid of centrifugalforce to the pivotal joint 11 between the outer end of each spoke 5 andits rocker 9 where it is distributed in similar manner by grooves 48shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8. The superfluous oil may then flow fromthis joint through boring 419 in rocker 9 into pivotal pin 10 tolubricate it and thence to pivotal pin 12 through boring 50, to whichpin the springs 13 are attached. Thus automatically lubrication of allmoving joints may be obtained while the wheel runs, whereas so long asthe wheel stands still the oil is held in the wells 25 by controller 29.

To prevent the nuts 51 of pivotal bolts 6 shown in Fig. 7 in full viewfrom accidentally loosening, I provide a ring which touches one side ofeach nut and which is screwed to disk 8 as shown in Fig. 7.

As has been previously described, the rims -l of the wheel are attachedto the U- shaped lelly 2 by means of screws 7, which are clearlyillustrated in Fig. 1 and I have also illustrated for instance in Fig.15, how a solid rubber tire 7 5 may be attached to the wheel by means ofthe lateral rims, though in this particular case I have shown the rims76 made out of sheet metal to obtain a lighter construction. The wheeltelly 2 is likewise indicated in Fig. 15. In Fig. 16 I have indicatedhow for instance a solid iron tire 77 may be attached to the telly '2for instance by means of bolts 78. In Fig. 17 I have shown how the felly'2 itself may serve as the tire by having its outer face strengthenedand flanged as shown at 79.

In all cases where the tire is independent of the telly 2 and held bysuitable means, for instance by rims, to the folly, in particular incase of rubber tires, I find it preferable to provide an expansiondevice on the telly which permits the telly to con-- tract and therebylessen its diameter in or der to permit the easy sliding on and off ofthe rubber tire which is usually of slightly smaller diameter when it isnew, because tires of this kind are likely to increase in size whenused.

The expansion device which I prefer to employ is shown in its locationon the wheel rim in Fig. 1 at 60, and its detail construe tion is shownin Figs. 1,2, 13 and 14. In these latter figures it clearly appears thatthe telly Z is split where the expansion device is l.o cated so that thetwo ends of the telly facing each other are beveled toward each otherwhereby two V-shaped notches 61 are produced on both sides of the tellyinto which wedges (32 and 63 respectively are fitted. These wedges whenthe telly is fully expanded to its normal size by inserting the wedgesinto their seats substantially meet at their inner ends, so that bothwedges are flush with the sides of the telly as shown. Wedges (S2 and(33 are provided on the side 'lacingthe center of the wheel with bosses(it and 65 which are in line with each other. Boss (34 is threaded toreceive a screw (56 while boss 65 is merely bored out to permit thesliding of screw ()6 through it. However, at the outer end the boring ofboss (55 is large enough to receive the shoulder (37 of screw 66 so thatwhen this screw is turned in the boss (H the two wedges are drawn towardeach other thereby and the ring is expanded. The wedges are providedwith cars (58 and (35) respectively, which are pro vided laterally ofthe bosses and which lie against the inside of the telly as shown inFigs. 12 and 1-l-, and these cars of the two wedges meet when the wedgesare drawn tightly toward each other so as to supplement each other to asubstantially oval flange. On the line on which they meet bolts 70 areprovided in telly 2 each of which clamps a washer 71 tightly over twoadjoining ears (3S and (39, so that I am enabled after the wedges aredrawn together and the rim is expanded, to lock the two wedges togetherby tightening the washers 71v over their respective cars by means ofscrews 70. It will be clear for instance from Fig. 1% that each wedge isfitted into the V-shaped slot formed by the two telly ends in dovetailedfashion, whereby the outer faces of the wedges are flush with thecircumference of the telly. By this arrangement I am enabled to easilypermit the contraction of the telly by loosening the wedges to attachthe tire and thereafter to easily expand the telly again to its normalsize by only tightening one screw (36 and then tightening the lockingscrews 7 O.

The action of the wheel when under load is as follows: The hub 1 underthe load of the vehicle tends to sag down and thus move out of thecenter of the telly. The ell'ect of this is a downward movement of allthe pivot pins (3 so that all the arms 5 which are pivotally attached tothese pins transmit this downward movement the more the nearer theirlongitudinal axes are located in line with the downward thrust. This inturn will, according to whether the arms in Fig. 1 for instance arelocated on the right hand or left hand side of the vertical diameter ol.the hub, rock the rockers S) in one or in the other position, and bytheir rocking springs 13 are put under tension. Some of the arms 5 itwill be noted will of course transmit hardly any motion to the rockerarms. for instance the arm 5 whose pivot pin 6 is located in the lowerportion of the hub to the right of the vertical diameter in Fig. 1, andlikewise the arm 5, whose pivot 6 is located diametrically opposite tothe one just referred to. Drawing a diameter through the two pivot pins6 just referred to it will be noted from Fig. 1 that all the arms 5attached to the pivot pins 6 located to the right of this diameter tendto move their rocker arms 9 clockwise; all the arms 5 whose pivot pins 6are located to the lett of this diameter tend to move their rocker arms9 counterclockwise.

l V hat I claim is:

1. In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe telly and the hub, of a plurality of springs circumferentiallydisposed between the hub and the telly, rocker members pivotallyattached to said telly intermediate their ends and pivotally connectedat their ends to said springs, and arms pivotally connected to said huband to one end of said rockers.

2. In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe telly and the hub, ot a plurality of springs circumterentiallydisposed between the hub and the telly, rocker members pivotallyattached to said telly intermediate their ends and pivotally connectedat their ends to said springs, and arms pivotally connected to said huband to one end of said rockers, said arms running substantiallytangentially to said hub.

In a s'iring wheel of the character described, the combination with thetelly and the hub, ot a plurality otsprings circumten entially disposedbetween the hub and the telly, rocker members pivotally attached to saidtelly intermediate their ends and pivotally connected at their ends tosaid springs, and arms pivotally connected to said hub and to one end ofsaid rockers, said arms running substantially tangentially to said hub,and said telly having U-shaped cross section opening inwardly, saidrockers being pivotally disposed between the lateral flanges of saidtelly.

l. In a spring wheel ot the character described, the combination withthe telly and the hub, ot a plurality of rocker members pivot-allydisposed in said telly and having springs connecting their tree endswith the tree ends of the adjacent members, and arms pivotally attachedto the hub and to one of the ends of said rockers, said arms run ningsubstantially tangentially to said hub.

5. In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe telly and the hub, of a plurality ot rocker members pivotallydisposed in said telly and having springs connecting their free endswith the tree ends of the adjacent members, and arms pivotally attachedto the hub and to one ot the ends of said rockers, said arms runningsubstantially tangentially to said hub, and

said telly having U-shaped cross section opening inwardly, said rockersbeing pivotally disposed between the lateral flanges of said telly.

6. In a spring wheel ot the character described, the combination withthe telly and the hub, rocker members pivotally attached to the telly,and having springs connecting their tree ends with the tree ends of theadjacent members and arms pivotally attached to the hub and to one ofthe ends 0t said rockers; ot a lubricating device located in the hub andhaving means for storing lubricant in the walls of the hub, and adaptedto intermittently discharge such lubricant to all or" said pivotalconnections of said arms and rocker members when the wheel rotates, butto intercept such supply when the wheelceases to rotate. I

7. In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe telly and the hub, rocker members pivotally attached to the tellyand having springs, connecting their tree ends with the tree ends of theadjacent members, and arms pivotally attached to the hub and to one ofthe ends of said rockers; ot a lubricating device located in the hubconsisting ot a suitable number of oil wells disposed in the hub bodyand adapted to eject lubricant by con tritugal force when the wheelrotates, a controller permitting the escape of lubricant from said wellsintermittently when the wheel rotates, and means tor conducting saidlubricant trom said controller to said pivotal connections.

8. In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe telly and the hub havingtlanges at both ends, rocker memberspivotally attached to the telly and having springs connecting their treeends with the tree ends of the adjacent members, and arms pivotallyattached to the hub and to one of the ends of said rockers; ot alubricating device located in the hub consisting of a suitable number otoil wells disposed in the hub body and adaptedto eject lubricant bycentrifugal torce when the wheel rotates, a controller permitting theescape of lubricant from said wells intermittently when the wheelrotates, said controller consisting ot a rocking shatt disposed betweenthe hub flanges and having a cone splined to each end and seated in saidflanges by a spring interposed between said cones, the taco of eachflange having a circular groove connecting the oil wells located in thehub, said taces also having a main channel leading trom said groove tothe cone in said flange, each flange tace also having a spiral channelstarting from the cone and leading past all of said pivotal connectionsct said arms and having branch into said pivotal connections, said coneadapted to intermittently connect said main channel with said spiralchannel when said shaftis rocked from normal position to permitintermittent passage of lubricant to said pivotal connections, and meansdisposed adjacent to the wheel for rocking said shaft when the wheelrotates, and a face plate covering each of said flange faces.

5). In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe felly and the hub having flanges at both ends, rocker memberspivotally attached to the felly and having springs connecting their freeends with the free ends of the adjacent members, and arms pivotallyattached to the hub and to one of the ends of said rockers; of alubricating device located in the hub consisting of a suitable number ofoil wells disposed in the hub body and adapted to eject lubricant bycentrifugal force when the wheel r0- tates, a controller permitting theescape of lubricant from said wells intermittently when the wheelrotates, said controller consisting of a rocking shaft disposed betweenthe hub flanges and having a cone splined to each end and seated in saidflanges by a spring interposed between said cones, the face of eachflange having a circular groove connecting the oil wells located in thehub, said faces also having a main channel leading from said groove tothe cone in said flange, each flange face also having a spiral channelstarting from the cone and leading past all of said pivotal connectionsof said arms and having the branch channel leading from said spiralchannel into said pivotal connections, said cone adapted tointermittently connect said main channel with said spiral channel whensaid shaft is rocked from normal position to permit intermittent passageof lubricant to said pivotal connections, a double-faced latch fastenedto one end of said shaft, a spring for holding said shaft and latch innormal position, and a pin fixed adjacent to the hub in cooperativerelation with said latch for lifting said latch against the tension ofits spring to rock the shaft when the hub rotates in either direction.

10. In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe felly and the hub having flanges at both ends, rocker memberspivotally attached to the folly and having springs connecting their freeends with thefree ends of the adjacent members, and arms pivotallyattached to the hub and to one of the ends of said rockers; of alubricating device located in the hub consisting of a suitable number ofoil wells disposed in the hub body and adapted to eject lubricant bycentrifugal force when the wheel rotates, a controller permitting theescape of lubricant from said wells intermittently when the wheelrotates, said controller consisting of a rocking shaft disposed betweenthe hub flanges and having a cone splined to each end and seated in saidflanges by a spring interposed between said cones, the face of eachflange having a circular groove connecting the oil wells located in thehub, said faces also having a main channel leading from said groove tothe cone in said flange, each flange face also having a spiral channelstarting from the cone and leading past all of said pivotal connectionsof said arms and having branch channels leading from said spiral channelinto said pivotal connections, said cone adapted to intermittentlyconnect said main channel with said spiral channel when said shaft isrocked from normal position to permit intermittent passage of lubri wantto said pivotal connections, and means disposed adjacent to the wheelfor rocking said shaft when the wheel rotates, and a face plate coveringeach of said flange faces, each of said arms having ducts and channelsfor conducting the lubricant from its pivotal connection with the hub tothe remaining pivotal connections of said arm and the rocker connectedto it.

11. In a spring wheel of the character described, the combination withthe fclly and the hub having llanges at both ends, rocker memberspivotally attached to the felly and having springs connecting their freeends with the free ends of the adjacent members, and arms pivotallyattached to the hub and to one of the ends of said rockers; of alubricating device located in the-hub consisting of a suitable number ofoil wells disposed in the hub body and adapted to eject lubricant bycentrifugal force when the wheel rotates, a controller permitting theescape of lubricant from said wells intermittently when the wheelrotates, said controller consisting of a rocking shaft disposed betweenthe hub flanges and having a cone splincd to each end and seated in saidflanges by a spring interposed between said cones, the face of eachflange having a circular groove connecting the oil wells located in thehub, said faces also having a main channel leading from said groove tothe cone in said flange, each flange face also having a spiral channelstarting from the cone and leading past all of said pivotal connectionsof said arms and having branch channels leading from said spiral channelinto said pivotal connections, said cones having a flattened portion ontheir surfaces adjacent to said main and spiral channels permitting saidcones to intermittently connect said two channels when said shaft isrocked from normal position to permit intermittent passage of lubricantto said pivotal connections, and means disposed adjacent to the wheelfor rocking said shaft when the wheel rotates, and a face plate coveringeach of said flange faces.

12. In a spring wheel of the character described, having a transverselysplit felly and a tire adapted to be attached thereto, an eX pansiondevice permitting the contraction and expansion of the telly, consistingof two wedges disposed between the split telly portion one from eitherside of the telly in dovetailed fashion and a screw threaded into one ofsaid wedges and shouldered against the other wedge for moving saidwedges toward and away from each other, to cause expansion and permitcontraction respectively of said felly, each of said wedges having anear on each side of said expansion screw, and V a screw bolt on eachside of said screw fas-,

JOHN A. HAGERSTROM.

Witnesses:

H. ALFRED JANKE, M. G. CRAWFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 6.

